When Will It End

Luke 21:5-19 – When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

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There are many years, I suppose, when we begin this season we might be confused by the tone that it sets.  Oftentimes, as Advent arrives and we momentarily pause from our decorating and baking and shopping and wrapping to pay attention to the season, we are thinking, “what is up with the doom and gloom?”  Some years, when we put aside the red and green and jingle bells frenzy and enter into the blue of our sanctuary, we are surprised by the hellfire and brimstone proclaimed from the pages of scripture because it seems so inappropriate for this time of the year.  Some years, it all seems too dissonant with reality.

But not this year.

Not with rioting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.  Not with a young boy getting shot dead by a police officer in a public park in Cleveland.  These certainly seem like the signs of something.  I know it is a clear sign of one thing:

There have been too many shootings of too many unarmed young black men for us to be complacent about. 

This is something that the African American community has already known for a long time.  It has taken longer for white America to realize it.

It has been a lively and interesting conversation that’s been going on this past week about the happenings in Ferguson.  Always interesting – never simple.

We feel that there must have been a reason for Darren Wilson to shoot Michael Brown six times, because he is a police officer sworn to protect the citizens.  And we found a reason – Darren felt threatened by Michael.  He thought Michael would kill him.  So he killed Michael.

And at the same time we were talking about this, there was the incident at the Cleveland playground where a young police officer, Timothy Loehmann, shot and killed a boy, Tamir Rice.  Tamir was 12 years old.  He was playing with a toy gun, but it looked a lot like a real gun.  Why did this happen?  Tamir looked like a threat to Timothy.  And maybe Timothy also saw Tamir as a threat to the lives of others.

It’s not all that different from another incident in our own community a few months ago.  When John Crawford was shot and killed in a Walmart by officer Sean Williams.  Why? Because he was holding a toy gun that looked very real.  Again, he looked like a threat.

I hear these stories and one of the things that springs to mind is – Can we just get rid of toy guns please?  Can kids go back to playing with sticks or tinker toys that no one (I hope!) would ever mistake for a real weapon?  Of course, that won’t happen. And even if it did, it wouldn’t solve the problem.  Because the problem is deeper than that; far deeper.  

We live in a culture of mistrust and alienation.  We live in a culture of violence, dominated by fear.  We live in a culture where we are traumatized by the amount of violence we experience everyday on the news, in our entertainment, and maybe even in our neighborhood.  Is it any wonder we react?  Is it any wonder we perpetuate the problem with more violence, more fear.

Darren saw murdering rage in Michael’s eyes, whether it was really there or not.  And Ronald, the man who called 911 from the Beavercreek Walmart, saw a crazy man waving a rifle around in the store, even though that wasn’t actually happening.  And Timothy saw a child about to shoot him, so he shot first.

And as a result we get riots all night long – with fires and looting and all kinds of destruction because people are so angry about the injustice.  Some of them are so angry they can’t be stopped. 

Even though it’s wrong; even though it doesn’t do a bit of good and does a whole lot of harm. 

It’s a mess.  But it’s not the end of the world.

Just as it wasn’t the end of the world back in first century Jerusalem, when the temple was destroyed - again.  It wasn’t the end of the world when disciples of Christ were persecuted, imprisoned, and killed, because they were seen as a threat to the powers, a threat to the status quo.  Of course, they were armed only with the gospel.  But let’s not forget how powerfully dangerous the gospel truly is.  It is.

And it wasn’t the end of the world when there were earthquakes and fires and wars, and all the loss of life that accompanies such things – because you and I and everyone else know that there always were and always will be these things in this world. So much destruction, and yet the world goes on.

There have been so many times over the past couple of millennia when people have stood in fear of the end of the world – as they look out at the mass destruction surrounding us and think that, surely, it is upon us.

And there have been so many times over the past couple of millennia when people of God have prayed for the end of the world – as they look at the same destruction and longed for something better. 

The gospel tells us – and during Advent we pay particular attention to this – that Jesus is coming with the reign of God. He is coming, and we are to be watchful and waiting in a very specific kind of way, which involves being fully present to the world around us and attending to the movement of the Holy Spirit within us.

Make up your mind not to prepare your defense in advance, he said, but listen to the guidance of the Spirit.  The wisdom I will give you is much greater than anything you could come up with on your own.  Watch, listen, and heed the Spirit.

Since the grand jury report in Ferguson, the comments I have heard in conversation and have read in the news reports and social media have been all over the map.  There is not one single narrative about what happened that day in August.  There are at least two – probably more.  I have no doubt that it is always that way when fear and violence are in control.  We would do well to ask ourselves what our response might be.

People of God – your calling is to stand back from the fear; to stand back from the hate and listen for the movement of the Spirit.  Listen to the voices of police officers who are afraid, and listen to the voices of those who are angry about injustice.  Listen especially to those who are different from you, who may have a viewpoint that is different from yours.  And don’t make up your mind about your defense ahead of time.  Listen and wait for the wisdom that comes from divine love.